This I Believe

I believe that work is the human journey for the pursuit of one’s happiness. In this modern world we as a general public look to work as a burden and a means to a way. However, when we really look at the word “work” we see that it is pathway to a fully life and ones overall pursuit of happiness. If you were to ask my opinion on what the word work meant to me a year ago I would have told you the mindset found in the beginning of this piece. However, now that I’m a mature college student seeking means of higher education I can safely say that it truly is a means to fulfill ambitions.

When growing up in a very high standard school district it was never hard for me to see the direct relationship between that of education and job placement. I, like many of my pears were told, in an almost written in stone fashion, that we had to go to college. This was a very valid conclusion and statistics supported that going to college or seeking the means of higher education do have an impact in future work experience. Yet as a freshman I was hard pressed to think or deal with the thought of what I was going to be when I “grow up.” At one point I wanted to be a fire fighter, a doctor, and a pilot. Now I was a senior in high school and I had found an interest in business. Still, I had heard the stories of college undergraduates changing their major 4 or 5 times. I was confident in my major, marketing. However, the real world doesn’t contain pixy dust or gingerbread houses, so would the world of marketing be what I wanted it to be?

Now, that I have enrolled in college with my major being marketing management I have been able to see the world of business in a new light and in a way learning about my future profession is exciting. In my case, my major worked out for the better, but then again in the near future it could easily change. I have come to believe that as long as I work to achieve a higher goal then I will be happy with that task. One doesn’t want to work, in an ideal world no one should have to. No one grows up wishing to be a waste management assistant or a janitor, however they know that in order to pursue their dreams or happiness sometimes those roles are the means to a way. Work might be a burden to most of the world and to the common man but it is also gives us a reason to cherish life for what it is. Some of the most important parts of our lives are shared during our work experience; relationships, achievement of goals, a sense of duty. If there ever were a scientific law it would be that work would always be a requirement in order to find happiness.

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Top 100 Essays USB Drive

This USB drive contains 100 of the top This I Believe audio broadcasts of the last ten years, plus some favorites from Edward R. Murrow's radio series of the 1950s. It's perfect for personal or classroom use! Click here to learn more.

This week’s essay

Growing up in the former Yugoslavia, lawyer Djenita Pasic enjoyed the peace of her religiously diverse country. But after the fall of communism and the outbreak of the Bosnian War, Pasic was forced to reevaluate her ideas about religion and tolerance. Click here to read her essay.